Summer 2026 Program
Program meetings:
June 22, June 23–August 6
Monday–Thursday*, 8:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
* and two Fridays: 7/24 and 7/31
Location:
The Lutz Center
3435 N. Cicero Ave.
Payment
$17.05/hour — $2046 total (before taxes) with perfect attendance
Please note
This program is very competitive! A few hundred teens will typically apply for this program during the summer term.
How we work in this program
As in the game design field, we work in teams. This allows team members to focus on their preferred areas of expertise: programming, character design, level design, audio composition, writing, etc.
What technologies we use
This is a drag-and-drop game development environment that will allow you to make 2D games (platformers and sidescrollers, top-down shooters, etc.). There is some code logic to learn, but you do not have to learn a programming language to use this, or even write raw code — options are mostly handled through selection menus.
You can make 2D character/prop designs, and also animations. You can draw things freehand, or import and image and make adjustments.
Teens in this program sometimes find other software to work with.
If you are looking to use more advanced game engine software like Unity/Unreal, or to dive deep into programming languages like C#, then this program might not be advanced enough for you.